AB InBev has celebrated Lionel Messi’s record-breaking goal tally for Spanish football giant Barcelona with a limited run of 644 Budweiser bottles, decorated using digital direct-to-object printing.
Mr Messi recently scored his 644th goal for Barcelona, which set a new record for the most goals scored by a single player for one club in the history of professional football.
To mark this, specially designed labels were developed using direct object printing and numbered from 1-644 to represent every goal scored in Mr Messi’s club career to date. Each one of these limited edition Budweiser bottles will be gifted to the goalkeepers that Mr Messi has scored against, including Gianluigi Buffon, David de Gea and Jan Oblak. The bottles recognise the role each goaltender has played in ‘pushing Mr Messi to greatness’ during his 20-year journey toward breaking the record, according to AB InBev.
The bottles, which will also have a limited retail run with standard label decoration, are marked with several unique flourishes including a ‘Messi King of Football’ tag and a revamped version of the Budweiser creed that includes a special tribute to the qualities that have characterised his career.
Gregory Bentley, global packaging innovation director at AB InBev, commented, ‘This project shows the valuable role of direct object printing in creating truly limited edition, premium bottle designs – each one is unique and near impossible to replicate.
‘The team did a great job of executing the 644 unique bottle designs in a matter of days in our Digital Object Printing lab, while also observing Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing.’
AB InBev, through its Global Innovation and Technology Center (GITEC), first brought its in-house direct object printing capabilities to market in 2019 for a limited run of Beck’s Artist Series bottles. The technology enables printed bottles to have ink and varnish applied directly to the glass to give a ‘no label’ look, full 360 bottle decoration, a premium design and the capability to print variable or unique artworks on the bottles. The technology also allows for digital embossing, giving a tactile effect.
Mr Bentley continued, ‘Although the technology is still in its relative infancy on a mass scale, momentum is certainly growing in digital printing methods and we’re learning a lot and enjoying these special, one-off projects that can mark cultural moments, like Messi’s amazing world record.’
Budweiser has also released a short film titled ‘Kings aren’t made overnight’, featuring the limited edition Lionel Messi bottles, which you can watch below.
